Jamie Murray

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Jamie Robert Murray, OBE (born 13 February 1986) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He is a five-time Grand Slam doubles winner and a Davis Cup champion, currently the world No. 14 doubles player,[1] and a former doubles world No. 1. Murray is the elder brother of Britain's former world No. 1 singles tennis player Andy Murray.[2]

Murray had an early career partnership with Eric Butorac, winning three titles in 2007. Having split with Butorac at the end of 2007, he subsequently played with 43 partners over the next 5½ years;[3] his following seven ATP finals came with six different partners. In 2013, he began a new partnership with John Peers, winning six ATP tournaments, and reaching two Grand Slam men's doubles finals. After the partnership split up, Murray joined with Bruno Soares for the 2016 Tour, the new pair enjoying almost immediate success after winning only their second ATP tournament playing together.[4] The pair went on to win the 2016 Australian and US Opens, and Murray reached the world no. 1 doubles ranking.

Early and personal life

Jamie Murray was born in Glasgow, Scotland,[11] the elder son of Judith (née Erskine) and William Murray. He grew up in Dunblane and attended Dunblane Primary School. He and his brother Andy were present during the 1996 Dunblane school massacre,[12][13] when Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and a teacher before shooting himself. Both brothers were part of a group of pupils who took cover in a classroom.[12] His parents separated in 1998, with the boys living with their father while being mentored in tennis by their mother.[14]

At the age of 10, Jamie was No 3-ranked tennis player of his age in Europe.[15] At 11 years and 5 months, he finished runner-up in the boys under 12 category at the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl.[16] Murray was the junior world number 2 when he was 13 years old[17] and was selected to be educated at The Leys School in Cambridge with four other boys whilst being trained by national coaches. But being the youngest meant that instead of Leys, he went to St Faith's School[18] down the road, which was a feeder school. He was isolated from the other players and the coaching wasn't to his liking, so after eight months he returned home. Andy Murray would later claim of his brother's experience at the time that it had "ruined him," though Jamie Murray responded that this was a harsh assessment. He has not criticised the coach in charge, and stated that blaming the LTA would be an easy option.[19][20] Back home, he did not touch a tennis racket for two years.[15]

In 2004, he partnered his brother to the semi-final of the Junior US Open.[21] Jamie and Andy call each other 'Tight' as a nickname.[15] Murray said that Andre Sa is probably his best friend on the tour.

In 2009, Jamie began dating Colombian MBA student Alejandra Gutiérrez. They married in Cromlix House near Dunblane on 28 October 2010, with brother Andy acting as best man;[27][28] Andy would later buy and refurbish the struggling hotel,[29] and both he and their father Willie also subsequently celebrated their wedding receptions at the venue.[30][31]

Career

2005–2006

Murray partnered Colin Fleming, winning their first Futures tournament on 4 September 2005 at the Great Britain F10 in Nottingham.[32]

Murray/Fleming followed this with Futures titles at Glasgow,[33] Edinburgh[34] and Exmouth,[35] amassing a total of four Futures plus four satellite titles.[36]

In November 2005, Murray was part of the Scotland team in the inaugural Aberdeen Cup against England.[39] This was an exhibition tournament, and the first time that Jamie and his brother Andy Murray played doubles as seniors. Murray also played singles, and mixed doubles with Elena Baltacha.[40] Scotland defeated England ​41⁄2– ​21⁄2.[41]

Murray and Colin Fleming's success gained them a wildcard into the main draw of the men’s doubles at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships though they lost in the first round.[36] Colin Fleming decided to quit the tour to return to the University of Stirling to complete his degree.[42]

In late July 2006, Murray and the American player Eric Butorac, playing together for the first time, reached the final of the Los Angeles ATP tournament which they lost in straight sets to the world's top-ranked doubles team, the Bryan brothers.[43] The pair came to be known as Booty and Stretch, putting their nicknames on the back of their shirts.[10]

In September, partnering his younger brother, Murray reached the final of the Bangkok ATP tournament, losing to the top Israeli doubles pairing, Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich.

In November, the Aberdeen Cup was held for the second time. Playing for Scotland, Murray participated in the singles, doubles with Andy, and mixed doubles with Elena Baltacha.[44] Scotland won ​61⁄2–1.[45]

Murray met Jelena Janković at a party in Miami in 2006, Jankovic being unaware that he played tennis. Murray's agent subsequently asked her if she would like to play mixed doubles with him at Wimbledon. She had made no decision until they arrived at the All England Club at the same time, the day before the tournament started and Murray asked again, when she agreed.[49] They won the Mixed Doubles title at Wimbledon, Murray becoming the first Briton to win a Wimbledon title for 20 years. Britain's last Wimbledon winners were Jeremy Bates and Jo Durie in 1987, also in the Mixed Doubles.

Murray again reached a mixed doubles semi-final at the US Open alongside Liezel Huber, coming within ten points of winning a place in the final. Since Memphis in February, Murray and Butorac only went past the quarter-finals of a tournament once, winning the title on grass in Nottingham in June. In August, they agreed an amicable split, but decided to play the US Open, where they lost in the second round.[50]

In September, Murray was selected for the Davis Cup World Group Play-off against Croatia. Murray played the doubles with Tim Henman beating Marin Cilic and Lovro Zovko.[51] In 2013, Murray said "My most memorable match was playing Davis Cup with Tim Henman on No 1 Court at Wimbledon in his last ever match."[22] Great Britain won 4-1 and were promoted to the World Group.

Murray still showed some interest in singles tennis. He competed in a singles qualifying match against Marcel Granollers in January and applied for a wildcard singles entry for Wimbledon. He was given a wildcard into the qualifying stages for the 2008 Artois Championships, but lost to Poland's Łukasz Kubot and was refused entry into the Wimbledon singles tournament. Whilst Murray enjoyed singles, he also thought the Davis Cup team would stand in good stead to have another member with recent singles experience, but he now accepted that he would henceforth only be a doubles player.[52]

With Mirnyi, he reached the final and semi-final of the Slazenger Open and Artois Championships respectively, but failed to progress beyond the third round of Wimbledon.

Murray had a public fall out with brother Andy Murray, criticising him for dropping out of the World Group first round tie against Argentina over fears he could aggravate a knee injury. Jamie played in and lost the doubles match with Ross Hutchins. Great Britain eventually lost 4–1. This was Great Britain's first World Group match since 2003, now facing a relegation play-off with Austria. The Murrays would not speak to each other for two weeks.[53][54]

Mixed doubles once again proved to be more successful for Murray in 2008. Competing with Liezel Huber, he reached the final of the 2008 US Open, though they lost to Cara Black and Leander Paes. He also reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon and quarter-finals of Roland Garros.

Seven months after the Davis Cup Argentina match, the Murray brothers prepared for the tie against Austria, with Andy declaring that he had healed the rift with Jamie.[58] Andy won his singles matches, but Jamie and Ross Hutchins lost the doubles. Great Britain eventually lost their World Group play-off to Austria 3-2 and were relegated to Europe/Africa Zone Group 1.

Mirnyi and Murray had mediocre results, compiling a 15–17 record. They split in September 2008[59], and Murray formed a new partnership with Dušan Vemić of Serbia at the start of the 2009 season.[60]

2009

Jamie played the Brisbane and Sydney tournaments with Serbian Dušan Vemić but played the Australian Open with his old partner Eric Butorac as Vemić was unavailable. Butorac and Murray, who had not played together since the 2007 US Open, lost in the first round at Melbourne Park.[61] Since splitting from Vemić at the end of February, Murray played with several different partners, including Simon Aspelin, Jamie Delgado, Paul Hanley, Pavel Vízner, Gilles Müller and Jonathan Erlich.[62] With Müller he reached the semi-final at Nottingham, his best result since the same tournament last year.[63] Murray played with Vízner at the French Open and with Erlich at Wimbledon, but was defeated in the first round of both tournaments.[64] However, he did reach the semi-finals of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon with his regular partner Liezel Huber.[65] Dropping out of the world top one hundred, Murray returned to the Challenger circuit with new partner Jamie Delgado. Playing in these lower ranked tournaments, he won his first tournament of any sort in eighteen months at the Tirani Cup in August 2009, followed by wins at the TEAN International (with Jonathan Marray) and the Ljubljana Open. He was a semi-finalist in the Challenger event in Orléans, France. He topped off the year with a win in Astana, Kazakhstan again partnering Jonathan Marray.[66]

2010

Jamie started the 2010 year as a semi-finalist in the ATP Challenger event in São Paulo, Brazil. His first win of the year came in Salinas, Ecuador with Marray again. He lost with Marray in another Challenger event in Bucaramanga, Colombia on clay in the quarter-finals. He also competed in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon, this time alongside Laura Robson, but lost in the first round.

Playing in his first tournament since getting married, Murray played with his brother Andy Murray. The pair had a great week in Valencia and won the tournament. This was Jamie's first win on the top level of the tour for over two years and the first time that he has won a doubles title with his brother.[68][69] Murray ended the season with another Challenger win, in Bratislava.

2012

Murray began 2012 playing at the Brisbane International partnering Paul Hanley for the first time. They made it into the second round, but lost in straight sets. At the Australian Open the pair lost in the first round in three sets to Julian Knowle and Michael Kohlmann. Murray got to his first final of the season again partnering Paul Hanley at the Open Sud de France, but lost the final to Nicolas Mahut and Édouard Roger-Vasselin in straight sets. At the French Open, Murray, this time partnering Carsten Ball, lost in the first round to Yen-Hsun Lu and Go Soeda in three sets. At Wimbledon, Murray re-partnered with longtime partner Eric Butorac for the first time in five years. They went out in the second round in straight sets to Arnaud Clément and Michaël Llodra. Having lost in the first round at the German Open, Murray next competed at the London 2012 Summer Olympics in the doubles event partnering Brother Andy, who was also competing in the singles event.[70] Jamie described partnering his brother at the London Olympics as a dream come true. Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins also competed together to represent Great Britain in the doubles event. Unfortunately, the dream was not long lived as they lost in the first round to Austria (Melzer/Peya) in a very close three-setter. At the 2012 US Open, Murray had another disappointing campaign as he and partner André Sá lost in the first round to fifteenth seeds Peya/Soares in straight sets. They did, however, go on to reach the final of a challenger in Pétange the following week. The pair didn't go on to achieve much more in the remainder of the 2012 season, their most notable result coming at the Erste Bank Open where they reached the semi-finals. Murray then spent the final month of the season playing with a variety of different partners on the Challenger Tour.

By now, Murray had partnered 43 different players since splitting up with Eric Butorac 5½ years ago,[3] was close to sliding out of the doubles top 100 and contemplated quitting the sport altogether.[71]

At the start of February, Murray paired up with John Peers. This partnership looked to be more successful as they reached the semi-finals of their first tournament together, the Open Sud de France. They continued playing together and won their first title of the year at the US Men's Clay Court Championship, upsetting the top-seeded Bryan brothers in the final.[72]

The pair played their first Grand Slam together at the French Open where they lost in the second round in three sets to the Colombian pairing of Cabal/Farah.[73] Going out early allowed them to play in the Aegon Trophy on the Challenger Tour during the second week of the slam which they went on to win. They followed this with a fairly successful grass court season where they reached the quarter-finals of the Aegon Championships and the semi-finals of the Aegon International. This gave them confidence heading into Wimbledon, however they lost in the first round to Blake/Melzer in an exciting match where the deciding set finished 14–12 after lasting 87 minutes.[74]

Not disheartened, Murray/Peers won their second ATP Tour title of the year only a few weeks later in Gstaad,[75] beating the Spanish pair of Andújar/García-López in the final. They followed this up with a strong showing at the Bet-at-home Cup where they reached the semi-finals.

Next up was the US Open. The pair faced ninth seeds Marrero/Verdasco in their opening match and pulled off a shock, winning in straight sets. Two narrow three set wins followed over López/Sá as well as the American pairing of Baker/Ram. This resulted in Murray reaching his first ever Grand Slam quarter-final in the men's doubles. Murray/Peers would not progress any further, losing to second seeds Peya/Soares.[76]

Murray/Peers had a highly successful Asian swing of tournaments, reaching back-to-back finals in Bangkok and Tokyo, winning the former against Bednarek/Brunström. In Shanghai, Murray reached only his second Masters 1000 semi-final, defeating established doubles champions Julien Benneteau, Nenad Zimonjic and Robert Lindstedt en route before losing in two tightly contested tiebreaks against Marrero/Verdasco. As a result of their highly successful first season as a pair, Murray/Peers finished 10th in the Race to London, only 665 points behind the 8th placed qualifiers.

In November, the Lawn Tennis Association announced a dramatic cut in elite player funding with all financial support withdrawn from Britain’s doubles specialists and any singles players aged over 24 to reduce the number of supported players from 16 this year to just six in 2014.[77]

Murray and Peers instantly gained revenge for their loss as the grass court season began, defeating the Bryan brothers in straight sets at the Aegon Championships.[80] They made it all the way to the final, their second of the year, but were beaten by second seeds Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares in a hotly contested match.[81] They then lost their opening match of the Aegon International. At Wimbledon they were seeded 14th and won their opening two matches in straight sets. They then faced Peya and Soares in the third round. The match went all the way to a fifth set but Murray and Peers once again were unable to overcome the duo and narrowly missed out on making their second Grand Slam quarterfinal.[82] Murray did, however, make the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles, partnering Australian Casey Dellacqua.[83]

2015: Grand Slam finals and Davis Cup Champion

Murray/Peers again began their year at the 2015 Brisbane International where they defeated top seeds Rojer/Tecau in the first round before going on to win the title by defeating the pairing of Dolgopolov/Nishikori. The pair reached the third round at the 2015 Australian Open as the 16th seeds losing to 4th seeds Dodig/Melo. The pair's good form continued in Rotterdam where after losing in the qualifying rounds they were handed a 1R match as lucky losers following a withdrawal. The pair went on to reach the finals before losing in a rematch against Rojer/Tecau.

In March, Murray was selected for the Davis Cup first round tie against the United States in Glasgow. Following Andy Murray and James Ward winning the opening singles rubbers, Murray and Dominic Inglot played the Bryan Brothers; this was the first time Murray and Inglot had played together since the juniors, 12 years previously.[84] After the USA duo cruised through the first two sets, the Brits rallied but fell short at the final hurdle in a five-set defeat. Andy Murray won his next singles match, putting Great Britain through to the Davis Cup quarter-final. The last time Great Britain won back-to-back Davis Cup matches against the USA was 80 years previously.[85]

Murray was behind an initiative aimed at engaging with the next generation to make them more active and attract them to tennis. While he was committed to competing with Peers at the Topshelf Open in the Netherlands, eventually losing out in the semi-finals, 64 kids, aged 12 and under, battled it out for the inaugural Jamie Murray Cup and the chance to win flights and tickets to the doubles rubber in next month’s Davis Cup tie against France.[86]

In August, at the Montreal Masters, Murray/Peers defeated Andy Murray/Leander Paes in the second round – the first time the Murrays had competed against each other in a Tour-level match. Jamie Murray declared "It was weird. We've only ever played together", while Andy described it as "awkward".[88] Murray/Peers eventually lost in the quarter-finals.

In October, Murray and Peers revealed they would be playing with new partners next year.[91]

Car manufacturer Peugeot announced a two-year sponsorship deal with Jamie lasting until 2017.[92]

Murray decided to rest in the hope of finding his best form for the Davis Cup Final by skipping the entirety of the 'Asian swing': a three-week sequence that begins in Shenzhen on Monday and runs through Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai, incurring a possible financial downside. [93]

The two world number 2's played doubles in the Davis Cup World Group first round match against Japan beating Yoshihito Nishioka and Yasutaka Uchiyama in straight sets in a little under two hours. Andy was chosen because Leon Smith had expected Japan's no. 1 Kei Nishikori, but he had been rested, disappointing Britain's other doubles specialist, Dom Inglot.[98] Great Britain won 3-1 progressing to the quarter-finals.

Following the defeat of Marcelo Melo at the Miami Masters, Murray became the new world number 1 elect, and overtook Melo at the top of the rankings on the 4th of April.

In September, At the 2017 US Open he again partnered Martina Hingis in the Mixed Doubles. They beat Chinese Taipei’s Chan Hao-ching and the New Zealander Michael Venus in three sets in 69 minutes to win the US Open Mixed Doubles Title. Murray and Hingis thus won back to back majors in the Mixed Doubles and currently have an undefeated partnership of 10–0 at the Grand Slams.[104] Unfortunately, he and seasonal partner Soares lost in the quarter finals of the Men's Doubles in straight sets to Eventual winners Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecău.

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